"What did they do when they didn't get waited on?" asked Billy.
"Yelled at me," said the Watermelon, "as if I was their servant. This is a free country and we are all equal. I said that to one old gent once and it raised Cain."
"What'd he say?"
"He said that might be, but we didn't remain equal."
"What did you say?"
"I said, 'I know it and I am sorry for you, sir. Don't blame yourself too much,' I said. 'Was it drink that did it?' When I left they didn't give me any pay."
"Why not?" asked Billy, eagerly amused.
"They said I had broken too many dishes. I said if I had known they were going to keep my pay, I would have broken twice as many."
"Why didn't you do it, then?" asked Billy, whose ideas of vengeance were young and drastic.
"Too much work," explained the Watermelon. "If I wasn't extra strong, I wouldn't have been able to break what I did."